Hong Kong

Also see

• China

Records

• See General Register Office, UK
• There was Civil Registration in Hong Kong, refer External links below. There are no records before 1873.
• "Hong Kong Cemetery" Searchable and browsable database created by Ms Patricia Lim, with images. From Hong Kong Memory. Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Government.
  • Details of some of the inscriptions from the Ossuary

For expanded cemetery details, see Forgotten Souls : a Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery by Patricia Lim c 2011. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01015724284 . Sample pages Google Books.

• See External links below for the Searchable database on the website China Families.
• FamilySearch Catalog for microfilm/digitised microfilm records includes

"Births, deaths, marriages from Canton and Hong Kong newspapers, arranged chronologically, 1828-1862" catalogue entry microfilm 1208508, item 13, which has been digitised and may be viewed on your home computer.

"Europeans - China Coast : [card file]" “Individual cards for Europeans residing in Hong Kong and China during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries”. Digitised microfilm which may be viewed on your home computer.

Search the FamilySearch Catalog for additional catalogue entries, for example by using keywords Hong Kong, and filtering by English language, and selecting Availability Online. There are many databases available, including Church Registers for Birth, Marriage and Death, Cemetery Inscriptions, Will extracts, Card Files and other data from the Carl T. Smith collection etc, most of which are viewable on home computers. Also see FamilySearch Centres for changes involving microfilms.

• Refer online Hong Kong newspapers, see below, for birth, marriage and death notices.
• See Hong Kong Government Reports Online, below. A researcher advised that he found details of a relative who worked for the Hong Kong lighthouse service in these online government publications. The information was found in an official publication know as the Blue Book in a section "Civil Establishments of Hongkong" which lists information about Civil Servants.
• The BACSA Archive at the British Library holds information on both Happy Valley and Stanley cemeteries under file reference Mss Eur F370/81
• The book Garrison Memorials in Hong Kong: Some Graves and Monuments at Happy Valley by Solomon Bard 1997 is available at the British Library in the BACSA Archive, catalogue reference Mss Eur F370/1242 . By the same author, but not held in the BACSA Archive, Study of Military Graves and Monuments: Hong Kong Cemetery 1991, (Hong Kong Antiquities and Monuments Office) thought to be available at the Public Record Office, Hong Kong, possibly as a typescript. May possibly include information about Stanley Cemetery.
• The book British and Indian Armies on the China Coast 1785-1985 by Alan Harfield 1990 is available at the British Library, UIN: BLL01009472436 . Includes lists such as “List of Known Recipients of the Hong Kong Plague Medal 1894” and “List of Officers who served with the Hong Kong Regiment 1892-1902”. This link lists some “Military Commanders of Hong Kong and China” from the book (pages 483-484).

Hong Kong Volunteers

Regimental history

• Second to None : the Story of the Hong Kong Volunteers by Phillip Bruce 1991. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01012596174

External links

• “Major Genealogical Record Sources in Hong Kong” by the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Series J, No. 4 1975. lib.byu.edu. Refers to Civil Registration. Records prior to 1873 no longer exist. All pre-war marriage records have been lost.
  • Immigration Department contact details. This Department is responsible for Civil Registration but the website does not include information about certificates for family history purposes for persons not resident in Hong Kong, so you would need to contact the Department.
• Hong Kong Public Libraries
  • Information about Old Newspapers and microforms available, now an archived page (details at 2013/03, it is not clear whether this information is also available on the current website.)
  • Newspapers and Periodicals Services, now an archived page (details at 2013/05, it is not clear whether this information is also available on the current website.)
  • To access online historical newspapers, from the link, Multimedia Information System (MMIS) select Collection then “Old HK Newspapers” to view these online. Previously the website advised the online newspapers are in TIFF format, which may require a plug-in. If you cannot see the newspaper images, refer Online books-Digital Library of India for more details of the TIFF format, including plug-ins. The Newspapers available in English are
    • China Mail (1866/01/04 – 1961/12/29)，
    • Hong Kong Daily Press (1864/01/04 – 1941/09/30)，
    • Hong Kong Sunday Herald (1929/01/06 – 1950/10/29)，
    • Hong Kong Telegraph (1881/06/16 – 1951/03/30)
    • Hong Kong Weekly Press (1895/01/03 – 1909/12/24)

Note some issues and pages may be omitted

• Challenging Dead. A Look into Foreigners’ Cemeteries in Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan by Gotelind Müller 2018. crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de.
• "The War Cemeteries and Memorials in Hong Kong" Commonwealth War Graves Commission Information Sheet. dva.gov.au
• David’s Gwulo: Old Hong Kong including
  • Cemeteries in Hong Kong
    • details of an online database of the 6,000+ burials in the Hong Kong Cemetery. For the database, see Records above.
• Deaths Tell The Story Of Life In Old Hong Kong by Louisa Lim August 21, 2012 npr.org. An article about Patricia Lim and the Hong Kong Cemetery
• Hong Kong Memory Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Hong Kong Government. “Hong Kong Memory (HKM) is a multi-media web site that gives free and open access to digitized materials on Hong Kong’s history, culture and heritage”. Includes "Hong Kong Cemetery" Searchable and browsable database is created by Ms Patricia Lim, with images.
• China Families, previously called China Coast Family History, and part of the Chinese Maritime Customs project, University of Bristol. The website provides "a growing body of information about men and women of many different nationalities, professions and ages, who lived and worked in China between the 1850s and 1940s. These records have been drawn from government department lists, legal and diplomatic records, cemetery lists, and during research undertaken for a number of projects on the history of modern China and of the foreign relations of China". There is a Search facility and links to a number of online Directories.
• Rudi Butt’s Hong Kong’s First. A blog about historical aspects of Hong Kong
• 1894 Plague
  • "The Great Plague of Hong Kong" by E G Pryor Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Hong Kong Branch (Hong Kong Branch)) 1975: 61-70. Pdf
  • "Colonialism versus Nationalism: The Plague of Hong Kong in 1894" by P T Lee, The Journal of Northeast Asian History, 2013, v. 10 n. 1, p. 97- 128
  • The K.S.L.I. and the Hong Kong Plague, 1894, now an archived webpage. discovershropshire.org.uk. K.S.L.I.: Hong Kong Plague Medal 1894 britisharmedforces.org
  • Details of The Whitewash Brigade: The Hong Kong Plague of 1894 “includes all known recipients of the Hong Kong Plague Medal”. www.dixonsmedals.co.uk. Available at the British Library
  • 'An unexampled calamity' - The Hong Kong Plague of 1894 by Stuart Braga. Originally in Casa de Macau Australia Newsletter, September 2007 and January 2008 issues. www.casademacau.org.au
  • Also see Historical books online, below.
• "Three historic buildings at old Lei Yue Mun Barracks declared monuments" amo.gov.hk. The Barracks was one of the earliest and most important British Army fortifications in Hong Kong.
• The Regiments in China and Hong Kong 1860 - 1935 Battalions of The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and the East Surrey Regiment. queensroyalsurreys.org.uk
• Britain's Gateway To Troubled China (1932) Short (1 minute) ‪British Pathé video on YouTube. Full title reads: "Hong Kong. Britain's gateway to troubled China. Loyal Indian Troops impress natives with magnificent spectacle of military precision and discipline." (retrieved 15 May 2014)
• H M S Tamar, R N Base, Hong Kong royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk
• 1926 Submarines and HMS Titania gwulo.com
• Cyril H H Poole photographs including Submarines of the 4th Submarine Flotilla based at Hong Kong, Singapore, and Wei Hei Wei c 1930s. royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk

Second World War

• Hong Kong War Diary : Hong Kong Defenders ,December 1941-August 1945 Includes Indian Army Units and Indian Medical Service
• The Battle of Hong Kong 1941: A note on the literature and the effectiveness of the defence by Lawrence W C Lai, University of Hong Kong , Discussion paper series, July 2000. Pdf.

Maps

• Ordnance Map of Hong Kong by Thomas Collinson, 1846 National Library of Scotland.

Historical photographs online

• Photographic panoramas of Hong Kong, Canton, and Macau 1900-1930. University of Cambridge Digital Library.
• Digital images Marriott collection 1902-1923. The photographs are mainly of Hong Kong. British Empire & Commonwealth Collection, catalogue reference 1998/028 Bristol Museums.

Historical books online

• The Universities of Hong Kong Libraries Digital Initiatives includes
  • Hong Kong Government Reports Online 1842-1941 Click on 'Browse the titles' to see the titles available. Includes the Hong Kong Government Gazette 1842-1941 and the Blue Book 1871-1940. (Details of Blue Books gwulo.com.) Earlier editions of the Blue Books of Statistics are available at the National Archives, Kew record series CO 133, commencing with CO 133/1, for 1844.
  • Hong Kong & the West until 1860 Browse the titles
  • Restricted access. Online books are available at the website China Through Western Eyes , from the same source. Covers the period until 1911, although the date of publication may be later. Includes titles about missionary work. Unfortunately this database is no longer publicly available.
• ‪The Hongkong Directory: With List of Foreign Residents in China‬ 1859 Google Books
• The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. For a range of editions to 1922, see China.
• The London and China Telegraph. Published weekly in London. Covers China, Hong Kong, Japan, Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang), Batavia and perhaps a wider area. For editions 1860-1875 (missing 1862), see China.
• Online Directories from China Families University of Bristol. Mostly these focus on Shanghai, although there are some about Hong Kong.
• Who's Who in the Far East, 1906-7, June Achive.org
• The Colonial Office List for ... Includes a section on each country, and the Colonial Office List at the end of each volume. Google Books, HathiTrust Digital Library and Archive.org.

1862: First publication; 1867, 1877; 1878; 1879 pdf from Oxford University Library, may be slow to open, 1879 Google Books edition should become freely available 2020; 1881; 1889; 1901; 1902; 1903; 1904; HathiTrust Digital Library editions to 1922 viewable in restricted areas such as North America: A and B

In addition, Colonial Office List, 1863 and Colonial Office List, 1870 are available in the findmypast (pay website) dataset "Britain, Directories & Almanacs" located in Newspapers, Directories & Social History/Directories & Almanacs.

FamilySearch has a catalogue entry for a series of microfiches of the Colonial Office List, (produced by Chadwyck-Healey, 1987), currently (2019/06) available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, with however the potential to be digitised in the next few years, and perhaps be more widely available, or at least searchable. The same microfiche series may also be available at some other libraries, or to a very limited extent at some other FamilySearch Centres.

Colonial Office List (to 1925) and the later title The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List are available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002841625 and UIN: BLL01007173533

• Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis, from 1840 to 1843; and of the Combined Naval and Military Operations in China: Comprising a Complete Account of the Colony of Hong Kong, and Remarks on the Character and Habits of the Chinese from Notes of W[illiam] H[enry] Hall, R N and W D Bernard 1844 Volume I, Volume II Google Books
• "Note on the Island of Hong-Kong" by A R Johnston .HM Deputy Superintendent of Trade, an article from Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 14. January 1, 1844
• Reports from Committees: Mortality of Troops (China) Session 1 February-10 August 1866 Volume XV. Ordered to be printed by The House of Commons 24 July 1866. Google Books.
• ‪The Treaty Ports of China and Japan: A Complete Guide to the Open Ports of Those Countries, Together with Peking, Yedo, Hongkong and Macao. Forming a Guide Book & Vade Mecum for Travellers, Merchants, and Residents in General‬ by William Frederick Mayers, N B Dennys, and Charles King 1867. Note: The maps have not been filmed. Google Books
• The China Sea Directory by the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, London.
  • The China Sea Directory Volume I. Containing directions for the approaches to the China Sea and to Singapore, by the straits of Sunda, Banka, Gaspar, Carimata, Rhio, Varella, Durian, and Singapore by J. W. Reed , R N and J. W. King, R N. 1867 Google Books. 3rd edition 1886 Archive.org.
  • The China Sea Directory Volume II. Containing directions for the navigation of the China Sea, between Singapore and Hong Kong by J. W. Reed , R N and J. W. King, R N. 1868. British Library Digital Collection.
  • China Sea Directory Volume III. The Coasts of China from Hong Kong to the Korea etc Edited by Captain Charles J Bulloch, RN. 1874 Archive.org. 2nd edition 1884 Archive.org
• A directory for the navigation of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Japan, from the straits of Malacca and Sunda, and the passages east of Java. To Canton, Shanghai, the Yellow Sea, and Japan, with descriptions of the winds, monsoons, and currents, and general instructions for the various channels, harbours, etc by Alexander George Findlay 2nd edition 1878 Archive.org
• English Life In China by Major Henry Knollys, Royal Artillery. 1885 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. The first chapter is about Hong Kong.
• A Guide to Hongkong. With some remarks upon Macao and Canton by William Legge. Printed at Hongkong c 1893. British Library Digital Collection.
• Henry S. King & Co.'s Hand book for homeward-bound travellers from India, Australia and the East 1893 National Library of Australia. Includes the telegraph code to be used, as words or phrases more than ten letters are charged double. This company had an agent in Hong Kong, Kelly & Walsh, Limited.
• Report on the outbreak of bubonic plague in Hongkong, 1894, to the International Congress of Hygiene and Demography held at Budapest 1894 by Dr P B C Ayres, and Dr James A Lawson. Archive.org
• The Tourist's Guide to Hongkong, with short trips to the Mainland of China. [With plans, etc.] by R. C Hurley Hongkong 1897. British Library Digital Collection
• Report on the causes and continuance of plague in Hongkong and suggestions as to remedial measures by WJ Simpson 1903 Archive.org
• Twentieth century impressions of Hong-kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China: their history, people, commerce, industries, and resources by Arnold Wright 1908 Archive.org
• Hong Kong: A short history of the colony and an outline of the present political situation in China by A G M. 3rd edition revised c 1928 (or later) (catalogued as 1900) Archive.org
• Shanghai Lawyer by Norwood F. Allman 1943 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Includes some chapters on internment by the Japanese in Hong Kong during WW2

Journals online

Hong Kong Journals online The University of Hong Kong Libraries. Click on 'Browse the titles' to see all the titles available. Included are the following:

• Online editions of Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1961-2007
  • "Transactions of the China Medico-Chirurgical Society" [Hong Kong], 1845-46 by H. A. Rydings Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume 13 (1973)
  • "Incident between the Hong Merchants and the Super-cargoes of the British East India Company in Canton, 1811" by J. L. Cranmer-Byng Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume 15 (1975)
• "The Colony of Hongkong - From a Lecture on Reminiscences of a long Residence in the East"by Rev. Jas. Legge, D.D., LL.D. The China Review, or notes & queries on the Far East Volume 1 No. 3 (1872)
• "Historical Outline of Medical Missions at Canton, Hongkong and Macao" The China Review, or notes & queries on the Far East Volume 4 No. 5 (1876)